Posted
by
Soulskill
on Tuesday October 21, 2008 @04:34AM
from the back-from-the-dead-some-would-say dept.

Newsweek reports that next year's E3 will be expanding its attendance cap to 40,000 in an attempt to return as the premiere large-scale gaming expo. E3 scaled back its operations over the last few years, leading some to speculate that it was outliving its usefulness. This year, according to E3's organizers, we can "expect a boat load of press conferences on Monday during the day and on Tuesday morning." Newsweek also claims E3 will be opening to the public for the first time, allowing fans inside for the last two days of the event. However, G4's coverage says that while the vetting process for attendees will be eased, the event still won't be open to the public. An official announcement will be made tomorrow by the Entertainment Software Association.

Maybe these guys are smoking the same stuff that the guys at Fanny Mae, Freddy Mac, AIG, and WAMU have been smoking.

In this economy and the fact that tech giants have recently announced major lay-offs and down-sizing and what not (plus Circuit City is in the brink of bankruptcy according to the evening news), what company has the the money to spend on an expo that has diminishing returns and in the eyes of many if not all techies, a dead show? They are more likely to spend what little and precious funds they have on PAX and other more "successful" shows.